UGOOS AM6 S922X TV Box Android 9.0

[Silver]

I finally go around to testing mine after noticeably having lower than expected connection rate
It also has the same limit, showing 95Mbps in iperf3 testing between local machines on my LAN
It shows the same issue when doing an Internet connection download speed test to a local server - my Windows box does ~ 500Mbps download at same ethernet terminal and this again is only 95 on my Ugoos.

Did you ever communicate directly with Ugoos on this issue? I see you elected for a partial refund from GB but that still leaves big question mark

postscript - I also repeated the iperf test using SSH into CoreElec OS (booted from EMMC) and I get the same 95Mbps limit;
also the speedtest addon shows about same limit with ethernet (95)- but on 5G is over 200Mbps
Looks definitely to be a hardware limitation

One more piece of data - I also eliminated my router and connected the Ugoos directly to the Cable Modem - still only gets 95Mbps through the Ethernet connection

Update
OK - this is embarrassing
It was a cable issue
I was using a Purchased Pre-made Cat7 Cable
I discovered that is was the problem

See the tests below
The first is when I swapped in a different cable between router and AM6 - good result (~500Mbps)
Second - put cable back in and problem was back
Third, replaced cable again and back to good speed

My Internet Download test is also now good (~350Mbps) .

Experien - I would have sworn this was not a cable issue - and this same cable had no apparent issues with another box
So I would recommend you try again with different cable set.
Also - I ran Ethtool in CE and that got me pointed in the right direction.

My apologies to Ugoos for casting aspersions - the box DOES deliver what it promises.

p.p.s. I have two of these cables CAT 7 cables - they both give low transmission rate when connected to the AM6 - and actually the same issue when connected to my Minix U9-h - however they give full rate when connected to my Intel NUC
What could be possibly different in that regard of Android vs Windows Adapter?

350mbps? i get max 16 mbps lol

[QT-Pro]

Hi,
I'm running an AM6 Plus with Kodi. When playing any video content, the sound drops out for a few seconds approximately every 5 minutes. It is intensely annoying! I'm not sure whether the issue is coming from the AM6 or Kodi. Have any of you experienced this and, if so, did you find a solution to it please?

[mo123]

Try Kodi 18.7.2

https://mirrors.kodi.tv/releases/android/arm/kodi-18.7.2-Leia-armeabi-v7a.apk

Also do you use auto frame-rate switching?
It is needed for the audio and video to be in sync.

[DEcosse]

Hi,
When playing any video content, the sound drops out for a few seconds approximately every 5 minutes.

Are you saying this happens ALL the time?
Have you tried closing Kodi completely?

I've not had this happen on my AM6, however it is a somewhat occasional occurrence on my Windows machine - if I close the file and re-open the same source, it does same thing. Then I can close Kodi, open the same source file and it is fine.
Your post actually made me search for info on it (since I have seen this same issue) and the first post I opened was the one on Kodi forum where you asked this same question
Google obviously led us to the same link.
I'd be fairly sure this is a 'Kodi' thing, rather than an AM6 issue - but what I don't know.

I would suggest you run CoreELEC on your AM6 anyway - you have three options really, can just run it from a USB or Micro SD Card, or the Dual Boot version of the AM6 firmware or do your own dual-boot using the CEEMMC tool included with CoreELEC.

[QT-Pro]

@ mo123, is v18.7.2 a stable release or an RC?
I don't know what auto frame-rate switching is but as both video and audio are in perfect sync I imagine it must be enabled.
The problem isn't syncing. It's a complete sound drop-out that lasts for 3 to 5 seconds followed by a 1 second hiccup. If it was just on rare occasions I could probably live with it but, as it happens on average every 5 minutes, calling it unbearable would be an understatement.

@ DEcosse, sorry about posting on 2 different forums. I was hoping to get various opinions because Ugoos support replied that they had never heard of this problem, and yet, as you pointed out, plenty have spoken about it on the Kodi community. The only solution I found there was to clear Kodi's cache in the Android apps section and then reboot. I tried that but it made no difference. Ugoos did suggest installing Kodi 18.6, presumably because they feel 18.7 may be unstable.

That said, on the AV Forum, people are saying the problem comes from Android and that installing CoreElec makes audio playback completely stable. I would like to go down the dual-boot route but I'm pretty much a beginner at all this stuff and don't understand the instructions on how to install it on my AM6. Another thing bothering me about it is that the CoreElec software provided by Ugoos was created to run with firmware version 0.3.2 whereas the current firmware is 0.3.4.

[mo123]

@ mo123, is v18.7.2 a stable release or an RC?
I don't know what auto frame-rate switching is but as both video and audio are in perfect sync I imagine it must be enabled.
The problem isn't syncing. It's a complete sound drop-out that lasts for 3 to 5 seconds followed by a 1 second hiccup. If it was just on rare occasions I could probably live with it but, as it happens on average every 5 minutes, calling it unbearable would be an understatement.

@ DEcosse, sorry about posting on 2 different forums. I was hoping to get various opinions because Ugoos support replied that they had never heard of this problem, and yet, as you pointed out, plenty have spoken about it on the Kodi community. The only solution I found there was to clear Kodi's cache in the Android apps section and then reboot. I tried that but it made no difference. Ugoos did suggest installing Kodi 18.6, presumably because they feel 18.7 may be unstable.

That said, on the AV Forum, people are saying the problem comes from Android and that installing CoreElec makes audio playback completely stable. I would like to go down the dual-boot route but I'm pretty much a beginner at all this stuff and don't understand the instructions on how to install it on my AM6. Another thing bothering me about it is that the CoreElec software provided by Ugoos was created to run with firmware version 0.3.2 whereas the current firmware is 0.3.4.

You can try the latest dual-boot v0.3.4 ROM from here

https://forum.freaktab.com/forum/tv-player-support/amlogic-based-tv-players/s922x/others-s922x/firmware-roms-tools-dq/779098-rom-ugoos-am6-atv_by_sasvlad-androidtv-9-0

The last link, it seems it's just renamed incorrectly also as 0.3.3

https://mega.nz/folder/29tTVbBI#HBhhIeISWsDL45cUHDpH2A/folder/fttFWZaT

Then download the 1st file with 7z extension and unpack it.
Unzip it and flash with Amlogic Burning Tool
Load the firmware and press start
Connect a USB to USB cable to the OTG port and one to your PC.
Connect power while pressing a paperclip in the bottom reset hole.
Firmware should download automatically.
If not working, try again and connect the power adapter quicker.

In future, you can just download the 2nd file with zip extension and flash it through TWRP recovery.

You could also try the USB Tool with a micro-sd card instead of using a PC.

https://www.getdroidtips.com/download-amlogic-burn-card-maker/

https://docs.khadas.com/vim3/UpgradeViaTFBurningCard.html

Kodi 18.7.2 is the latest final stable version and is recommended for Android.
In Kodi's audio settings, you could also try to disable send noise for audio equipment.

In CoreELEC, you can also disable auto updates since it already works stable and might update automatically to a non stable version.

[QT-Pro]

Unzip it and flash with Amlogic Burning Tool
Load the firmware and press start
Connect a USB to USB cable to the OTG port and one to your PC.
Connect power while pressing a paperclip in the bottom reset hole.
Firmware should download automatically.
If not working, try again and connect the power adapter quicker.

In future, you can just download the 2nd file with zip extension and flash it through TWRP recovery.

You could also try the USB Tool with a micro-sd card instead of using a PC.

https://www.getdroidtips.com/download-amlogic-burn-card-maker/

https://docs.khadas.com/vim3/UpgradeViaTFBurningCard.html

Kodi 18.7.2 is the latest final stable version and is recommended for Android.
In Kodi's audio settings, you could also try to disable send noise for audio equipment.

In CoreELEC, you can also disable auto updates since it already works stable and might update automatically to a non stable version.

I'm sorry but this is all too advanced for me.
I don't know what the Amlogic Burning Tool is and even if I did connecting my PC to the TV box would be almost impossible because my AM6 has been built-in to my home cinema (not feeding a TV). My desktop PC is in my office which is far from my home cinema. I do have an Android tablet but I think you need Windows to achieve all this.
The micro-sd card option might have been possible but I didn't understand the instructions at all. If you are of generation X, Y, a Millenial, or your occupation was with computers, then all this stuff must be really easy for you but I'm a 64 yr old with intermediate PC skills and almost none with Android. I don't even have a smartphone.

For simplicity, it would be useful if either Ugoos could offer a factory-built dual boot box or resellers could offer such an option.

For my part, I will try the Kodi 18.7.2 update and see if that fixes the problem. Thanks for all your help anyway.

[QT-Pro]

Ok, I updated to Kodi 18.7.2 last night and am stunned by the difference. I only had 30 minutes available to watch anything so I chose a documentary. Throughout those 30 minutes the sound never dropped-out a single time. I also disabled the noise sending option as you suggested so I'm not certain whether it was that or the update that was responsible. I guess I'll try re-enabling it to see if the issue returns. Then at least we will know where the cure lies.

Incidentally, I had another issue with database confusion (TV series getting mixed up after scanning). Remarkably, the 18.7.2 update seems to have fixed that because it isn't happening any more.

[DEcosse]

DEcosse, sorry about posting on 2 different forums. .

Oh absolutely no apology necessary for that - I just thought amazing coincidence that the very first post I found & opened in search had your post in there too

If you're confused about running dual boot, you can try simply running CoreELEC from an SD Card (or a USB thumb Drive)
After you do the initialization on the CoreELEC card, then if it is left in place a power up or reboot will always boot to that device directly; however to switch to the Ugoos Android, there is a selection option in the CoreELEC quit menu to reboot to Android - so you still get 'dual boot' capability, just that one Operating System (Android) resides on the Internal Storage while the CE resides on the SD Card (or USB, whichever you chose). You can also eject the SD Card or USB drive prior to powering on and it will boot straight to Android.

For instructions on preparing the CoreELEC device, see the guides directly on CoreELEC site -https://coreelec.org/#install & https://discourse.coreelec.org/t/how...l-coreelec/677

(When you get to the part about selecting the DTB file, you will want the one for Rev B)

Here's a youtube video that shows the process on a GTKing, it's going to be same for yours except for which file you select for the dtb

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_8H2gFkWjg&t=271s

[DEcosse]

... I don't know what the Amlogic Burning Tool is and even if I did connecting my PC to the TV box would be almost impossible because my AM6 has been built-in to my home cinema (not feeding a TV). My desktop PC is in my office which is far from my home cinema. I

Just to clarify, you do not need a monitor connected to your Ugoos while re-flashing - you just need the box, the power cable and a USB to USB cable to connect your box to your Windows PC
Then you just need to install the USB Burning Tool on windows, get the Dual Boot Firmware from link provided my mo123 and follow the instructions linked below


The process is described here - https://ugoos.com/firmware-upgrade-g...mlogic-devices

Couple of other notes:

Because this is a complete new burn, you will have to reconfigure your Android with all your apps, settings etc (as if it were a brand new box)

Once you have it set up with the dual boot config, you will not have to perform this 'Burning' process again - you can download future updates (you will select the OTA DCE version) and then just use the Ugoos Updater to install (in this case all your configs WILL be saved)

Hopefully this helps - if you have any questions on the process, please let us know - although I think the guides are pretty comprehensive

For simplicity, it would be useful if either Ugoos could offer a factory-built dual boot box or resellers could offer such an option.

I think that would overly complicate things for re-sellers and honestly, it's not hard to do if you follow the instructions
I actually have a second brand new box (unused) that I would have been happy to pre-configure for you and pass along at cost plus shipping, however since we are on different continents (I'm in US) it's probably prohibitive to even consider

[QT-Pro]

DEcosse, thank you very much for all your advice and offer to provide me with a pre-configured box. Shipping would indeed be hefty, not to mention customs duties. Even though you consider the procedure to be simple, it terrifies me and I really don't want to lose all the apps and configuration I already made because it took me about 2 weeks to get it working the way I wanted although 95% of that was Kodi which I have backed-up anyway. That said, if I'm going to run Kodi off CoreElec, I doubt my backup would be of any use as it is based on the Android installation.

To be honest, I'm more drawn towards your SD card option as I can take that out of the box and do the necessary direct on my PC. I have a question about that though. I read somewhere on this forum that an AM6 Plus user claimed to have inserted a 128 Gb SD card. When I purchased mine, I was told that the maximum size I could add was 32 Gb so that's what I bought. At the moment, the card is being used to store Kodi's backup so I assume I will have to move that before using the card for the CoreElec install, but will 32 Gb be enough and what would be the true maximum SD storage I can use with the AM6, please?

Edit: with regard to the sound dropping-out having been solved, I am mistaken. It never dropped-out with the documentary I watched but it did it again several times last night while watching 2 different TV series.

[QT-Pro]

Another problem I have come across is that my Sony 7.1 virtual surround sound headphones which connect via the SPDIF optical port do not work. They work perfectly on my Mede8er X6003D via the same port so it's not the headphones that are at fault, and yes, I made sure they were fully charged. I asked Ugoos support twice over the last 2 days but they will not answer.

As far as I could understand, the AM6's SPDIF port is for audio output so the headphones should work. Is there something I need to do within either Ugoos or the Device settings in order to get that port running please?

[DEcosse]

.... That said, if I'm going to run Kodi off CoreElec, I doubt my backup would be of any use as it is based on the Android installation.

Yes, it should - If you use the BackUp add-on (by robweber) in Kodi, you can install the same Back-up Program in CoreELEC and then apply the backed-up file to create the same configuration (I even run a different skin than the std)
You will get a warning suggesting it is created from different system, but I have transferred back-up files even from Windows system.
Once you have your config established, you can then use the built-in CoreELEC Backup Program

.... I'm more drawn towards your SD card option as I can take that out of the box and do the necessary direct on my PC.

I agree this is probably your best solution - recognize that the configuration on PC only goes as far as creating the boot medium - then you have to boot it and configure your options from there once it is running on the machine (see reply in first para)
Just one note for attention - see about 3:50 into that GTKing video link - after you create your card and insert in the Card Slot (or USB, depending on Medium you used), you need to press the reset button while inserting the power connector for it's initial boot; then it will initiate and actually reboot itself while it is compiling the CE system.
As I mentioned once fully compiled and booted into the CE program, you can then configure accordingly (you will need to go through initial setup of Wifi etc) and can exit to Android if/when you want to from the Quit Menu; as long as card is installed, it will always reboot from Android OR directly from Power Off into CE and you will then have to select 'reboot to android' from there; of course if you eject the card it will also boot to Android directly. For most purposes, you shouldn't have to eject the card and you can move between the OS just using the respective reboot commands.

.... ... I was told that the maximum size I could add was 32 Gb so that's what I bought. At the moment, the card is being used to store Kodi's backup so I assume I will have to move that before using the card for the CoreElec install, but will 32 Gb be enough.

At least per the specs it says 'up to 32GB' for the TF card - https://ugoos.com/ugoos-am6-plus-s922xj-tvbox-android9
I have not tried anything larger personally and don't know whether it can read beyond that size
You're asking if 32GB will be enough - well it's really a question of whether it's enough for you. Do you store a large library, or are you just talking about the primary program plus storage for back-ups etc? The program itself is pretty small - fully configured my CE back-up is about 2Gb - the initial dual-boot version that Ugoos released only had about 1GB available for its CE partition which was not enough for my config; I mentioned this to them and they raised the partition size to 3Gb as std (that is not a factor in the SD install, just mentioning with reference to the size)
So if 32GB is enough storage for your current requirements, the CE is not going to dig into that by a huge amount.
You can use one of the USB ports also, depending on how fast it needs to be could use the 3.0 port with a fast SD card in a 3.0 USB Adapter, if you want library storage 0 or even an external USB Drive

Another problem I have come across is that my Sony 7.1 virtual surround sound headphones which connect via the SPDIF optical port do not work.

There is a switch to enable SPDIF under Settings -> Device Preferences -> Sound;
perhaps it is simply not turned on?

[QT-Pro]

There is a switch to enable SPDIF under Settings -> Device Preferences -> Sound;
perhaps it is simply not turned on?

Regretfully, it is not that because the SPDIF setting is enabled.

Do you store a large library, or are you just talking about the primary program plus storage for back-ups etc?

Good question! Connected to the OTG port is a 7 port USB 3.0 hub with 5 external drives attached. All my media is on those drives however, I expected Kodi to place all scanned content related to the media in the relevant folders. It hasn't. I noted on my PC that it stores everything in the program's database folder under App Data/Roaming and was shocked to find that not only had it scanned the entire PC instead of only the folders I asked it to, but it has made copies of every single image it found on the PC and that has significantly swelled the size of my C: drive. So, as we know Kodi is not storing downloaded data in the relevant folders on the external drives, I have to assume it will do the same in the Kodi install on the SD card. So, unless I can do something so that Kodi places downloaded data in the media folders on the external HDD's, images and trailers alone will use up all remaining space of that 32 Gb card in short order.

With regard to the installation of CoreElec on my SD card, I discovered yesterday that my PC has no card reader so I ordered one from Amazon and it should arrive on Wednesday next week. Incidentally, do I need to enable root on the AM6 for CE to be able to run?

[DEcosse]

It sounds like your library management on your PC is not set up correctly - when scanning for content you have addressed to scan the entire PC rather than just the storage locations you want to scan;

Root - or not - on Android has nothing to do with CE.
CE is its own minimal Operating System and is completely independent of the Android Operating System - you have choices as where it is located and run from (i.e. the Primary storage which would be partitioned accordingly or an external drive) - it is not like an app running within the Android system.

[DEcosse]

Ahead of your USB/SD Card Adapter arriving you can always 'practice' with a USB Thumb Drive Memory Stick, just to get familiar with your way around it. It won't have any affect on your Android at all and you can simply unplug stick when you're done with it.
Something like 4GB will be plenty to get you going. - the program itself only takes 512MB and the rest is reserved for storage.

On your headphones - is this just with Kodi? Have you tried other media apps in Android?
Also be interesting to see what happens with CE when running in that platform, with your Sony headset
I see in Audio config in the Android Kodi, there are no options to select the audio output device - it is greyed out with Android, audiotrac - same for passthrough
In CE you can select from about 6 combinations, incl spdif specifically
Saying that I did try connecting the SPDIF output from the box directly to a soundbar and it was fine, in other apps as well as kodi.

One limitation with SPDIF headphones I would think is that the main audio won't mute automatically? (not sure about that - seems that might be the case though?)